Municipal Guards

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Municipal Guards (Guardas Municipais), also called the Municipal Civil Guards, are the security police forces of municipalities (cities) of Brazil. Created in the time of Empire of Brazil, the guardsmen are subordinated to the municipality mayors (in Portuguese, prefeitos). Trained as a civilian uniformed agency, the city guards can make arrests in the act of crime (in flagrante delicto) and are responsible to police the municipal parks, properties, installations and the interior of municipal councils and city halls with administrative police powers and acting as a preventive police. Their patrols are called rondas (for rounds). And the guardas are treated as police officers by the IPA (International Police Association) and the Brazilian Ministry of Justice. There are over 400 Municipalities with Municipal Guards.

[edit] Legal Basis

Legally mandated missions IAW article 144, § 8º of the Federal Charter, when establishing activities, agencies and performance front to the Public Security and the safety of the people and the patrimony, stresses the responsibility of all but and mainly of the "State" (Union, States, Federal District and Cities), for the following:

  • 1) From protect their goods, services and facilities;
  • 2) In organize, direct and monitor vehicle traffic into their territory;
  • 3) From ensure the right of the community to enjoy or use public goods, obey the legal requirements;
  • 4) Protect the environment and historical heritage, cultural and ecological the municipality;
  • 5) Provide assistance for domestic and foreign tourists.

There is a PEC (Proposal of Constitutional Amendment, PEC nº 534/2002) which will change the Brazilian City/Municipal Guards Constitutional status. If approved, this constitutional review will be to give police power to every guardsmen to serve and protect the Brazilian cities and citizens, transforming these corporations in law enforcement agencies de jure (The Brazilian people consider the 'Guardas' policemen de facto, and the Brazilian Ministry of Justice are treating the guards as constables. However, the Brazilian State Police Forces don't agree with this ideal - In deeed, all the municipal guards operatives accuses The State Sheriffs and Colonels to interfere in the municipalities autonomy). (in Portuguese, this act is called "ingerência").

The PEC was approved in the Brazilian Federal Senate and the Brazilian Federal House of Representatives Justice Comission (now it's waiting to be approved in the Brazilian Federal House of Representatives "Plenário" in two votations - with open vote). After that, the PEC will need to be approved by the President of Brazil.

[edit] Organization

In some cities, like São Paulo, the commander is a retired Military Police colonel. In others, the commander can be a retired Brazilian Civil Police Sheriff. There is a third example: other cities, like Guarulhos and Osasco, the commanders were licensed members of São Paulo city Metropolitan Civil Guard (Guarda Civil Metropolitana da Cidade de São Paulo). Currently, there is an Osasco City Guard Senior Inspector acting as Subcommander; and the Local Inspector Commander is an ideal defended for the Brazilian city guards operatives.

The Municipal Guards or Municipal Civil Guards had been reorganized from the device of the Great Letter - Federal Constitution - (1988), that she authorizes to the cities "to create" Municipal Guards, for protection of its in agreement goods, services and installations to make use the Law (to complement - constitutional text).

Therefore, a priority, them they have to be able of policy to act in these situations, but they also act in any another situation of crime detected in the act or threats to the order or to the life, beyond in calamity situations, because in these cases, as the same Law prayer, "any of the people can and the authorities must act". Thus, exactly that it has divergences on the possibility of action of the Municipal Guards, the action of the same ones is supported by the Law.

How much to its administrative organization, they diverge sufficiently between one and another city, having, also, a common error in citing them as paramilitary organizations, when, in the truth, the only reference to this type of organization in the Brazilian laws is for saying that these do not have to exist. Therefore, the Municipal Guards are not paramilitary, nor need to have similarity with military organizations, although comumente to be initiated under "command" of military pensioners of the p.m., "who generally nao act directly in the interests of Civil Guard and yes of where he is deriving", presenting some traces of these organizations. Traces, however, that they are being questioned for its integrant e, gradually, reviewed, because the guards, as many even though are autodenominam, are civil, and not military, thus do not need, to have military vices , crazes to form its hierarchy and funcionability.

One of the Civil Guards in Brazil that if detach for the excellency in the services is Municipal Civil Guarda of Sobral who offers to an exemplary structure of video monitoramento, motopatrulhamento and ciclopatrulhamento, besides generating daily reports of the occurrences and disponibilizar them on-line, information on the competitions and the inclusion of young adolescents through the social project Mirim Guard. of Municipal Guarda of Sobral.

[edit] Civil Guard

Municipal Civil Guard is a municipal administrative Police, that can be created by specific law of the chamber of the councilmen of the city, as an instrument of public security of the city. Its components possess the same prerogatives and legal obligations of the municipality's employees. The GCM, as it is known, can still assist the other agencies of public security, such as: the Federal Police, Federal Road Police, Federal Railroad Police, Civil Police, (includind the Superintendance of State Scientific Police Service) and the Military Police including the Corps of Military Firemen. By a "súmula" (the Portuguese for ruling) of the Supreme Federal Tribunal, the scientific police is considered a branch of the Civil Police due to of the principle of the indivisibility of the criminal inquiry, fitting to the States of the Federacy that had conferred it autonomy, to subordinate it, again, to those institutions.

In São Paulo City receive the name Metropolitan Civil Guard . The use of marine blue uniform for the Guards has been stipulated. In Rio De Janeiro it was called only Municipal Guard and the uniform color is khakis.

The Civil Guards are organizations of civil not militarized corporations. How much to the weapon transport, they are authorized to more than use them the Civil Guards of the cities with 20,000 inhabitants. Firearms only of allowed use as authorization legal. O transport is granted by the Federal. (Policy Statute of the Disarmament). One of the Civil Guards in Brazil that if detach for the excellency in the services is Municipal Civil Guarda of Sobral who offers to an exemplary structure of video monitoring, motor patrol and bicycle patrol, besides generating daily reports of the occurrences and disponibilizar them on-line, information on the competitions and the inclusion of young adolescents through the social project (Mirim Guard, the portuguese for Young Guard) (of Municipal Guarda of Sobral).

Up to 1965, the Civil Police of the most populous States of Brazil had in its administrative structure a full integration with the CIVIL GUARD, but the reforms of police of the beginning of the 20th century and destined to perform the preventive police, together, with the Military Police. These reforms are more clear in the Coup D'état in March 30,1.964; who finished with all autonomy in the Brazilian federal subjects (the Union, the Ferderal District, The States of Union and the Autonomal Municipalities).The idea was eliminate any resistance against the military regime. The Great Goal of the act was the elimination of the Republican State Civil "Guardas" and the Republican Municipal "Guardas".

The deriving government of the call Revolution of 64, objectifying to establish rigid control on the municipal & state uniformed police forces, extinguished the Civil Guards and many Municipal Guards too and regulated the supervisory norms of the Army on the Military Police, also, nominating official of the Army to command them in all the States.

[edit] See also

[edit] External links

(Portuguese only)

[edit] IPA link

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